"hold button" problem
 

I'm having trouble with my hold button i think. My automatic 91' seems to have a mind of its own when it comes to changing gears. I cant drive normally without it shifting up and down on its own, but i can tap the shifter (which is very loose) forwards or backwards and it will settle back down into the right gear. It seems to want to go to just 2nd gear. Causing low power at launches, and jerky downshifting while driving normally up at cruising speed. By the way, it would only hold in 2nd gear when i pressed the button, which now ive been reading that i should have been able to hold it in all of the gears. But when i pressed it in the past it would either downshift to 2nd or shift to it from 1st. Before this problem got to how it is now the hold button would rarely work when i pressed it. What should i do to fix it? Should i look at the connections inside the shifter like a bad solder point on it or the ecu or something, or is it a pinched wire? Any help is appreciated.

did you ever try starting in.. like.. D and not shifting at all?

Yes that's what im starting in.
Im not trying to start in L then S or anything. I'm in D and it is shifting erradically.

another reason to drive manual

could someone also please tell me how to tighten up the selector? thanks. btw i cant really tell if it is the hold button or not, b/c my aftermarket gauges are covering them up, but i assume thats what the problem is. thanks again.

easy fix:

manual swap
auto are gay.

yea yea i know. but i dont really have the money for the swap right now.

Bob..sorry have to ask..have you checked the fluid level on the tranny..I had a car with the hold button ..and it was down a quart..shifted like shit..once the fluid level was checked and brought up to par ,the car shifted fine..sorry no info on how to tighten it..you checked for a small hex-key screw?

I'm actually changing the fluid right now in case that is the problem. I'm changing the filter also. I know how to get down into where the shifter is, but I don't know how to adjust it. Probably just didn't look hard enough. I got your pm, and I would appreciate it if you could tell me how to adjust the linkage b/c i dont have the haynes manual. I tried to pm you back but your box is full. Thanks.